Aftermath
by showmetheuniverse
Summary: In which Elsa realizes just how unprepared she is to deal with the aftermath of the Great Thaw.


**hey I'm back from the dead. And while I was busy being dead, I also learned how to write. So now I present to you, some actual quality words.**

 **Fun fact: I might turn this into a full fledged story. Maybe.**

 **Also it's 3 AM and I'm sick as hell. So here goes nothing.**

* * *

The sun was shining in the Kingdom of Arendelle as the queen and princess skated around the courtyard alongside smiling citizens. To an outsider, it would've been impossible to tell that only three days before, the kingdom was frozen and buried in snow.

The days following the Great Thaw, as it was now called, were full of joy and cheer. The kingdom celebrated the return of summer, and the return of their queen. Princess Anna celebrated the return of her once estranged sister. The queen herself celebrated that her ice powers were known to everyone, that there was a part of herself that she didn't have to hide away anymore.

However, all good things must come to an end, and the same was true for the celebration.

* * *

"Excuse me," Henrik, the head of the Royal Council said as he entered Queen Elsa's study. "Your Majesty, the Duke of Weselton has several… complaints about the coronation and the events thereafter."

Elsa sighed. The members of the Royal Council had assumed leadership of Arendelle after her parents' death, and she had a feeling that they didn't believe Elsa was qualified to be queen."I thought I made it clear that Weselton and Arendelle were no longer trade partners."

"You did, your Majesty. However, that did not stop the Duke from sending us a thorough list of grievances. He states, among other things, that: the fish served at your coronation dinner was overcooked, Princess Anna treated him with slight disrespect, the music at the party was too loud, he slipped on ice and bruised his leg, the beds were uncomfortable and gave him a crick in his neck, he got frostbite on his mustache, et cetera."

Elsa rolled her eyes as she looked over the unnecessarily long list. Some of the issues pertaining to injuries were reasonable, but most issues on the parchment pertained only to minor inconveniences.

"Clearly, he's trying to portray his kingdom as the victim and win the sympathy of Arendelle and other kingdoms. It's not going to work. Most of the kingdoms in the region understand Weselton's… interesting methods of doing business."

"However, Weselton is but one of the kingdoms that is complaining. The Southern Isles are begging you to refrain from cutting ties with them, and Princess Rapunzel of Corona is upset that her honeymoon was ruined by snow."

"I'll have to schedule a meeting with the King of the Southern Isles and send my sincerest apologies to Princess Rapunzel."

"Unfortunately, your Majesty, that will have to wait. Right now, there's a plethora of unhappy citizens waiting to speak with you."

"Wait, what?"

"See for yourself." Henrik gestured to the window. Dozens of people were gathered outside the castle in a shape somewhat resembling a line. She looked out at her kingdom, at all the people who needed her help. There were young couples, mothers with crying infants, large families, working men, elderly couples. Everyone had been unintentionally affected by Elsa's powers.

"Henrik, I can't do this." Elsa stated bluntly. "I know you think little of me already, and what I'm about to say won't help my case in the slightest. I've only been the queen for a week and a half, and I spent the better part of it hiding away in the mountains. I don't know the first thing about running a kingdom. The one thing I do know is that I can't make everyone happy, and I'm not sure I know how to deal with the consequences of that." Frost began to coat the walls of the room, and tears streamed down Elsa's face. She clenched her fists, trying to release her emotions in the form of something other than ice. The room felt like it was shrinking, the walls closing in, any hope of escape lost. For the first time in the past three days, Elsa felt small, a miserable feeling she had grown used to during her childhood.

"Queen Elsa, you can't just hide from your fears. These issues need addressing, no matter how unprepared you are." Henrik stated, his voice starting to take a condescending edge, "But, if you feel as if you can't handle your queenly duties, the Royal Council would be more than happy to take over."

That was all it took for the queen to snap. Snowflakes began to swirl in the air as Elsa's frustration and fear grew. "Alright, Henrik, I know you've never been the biggest fan of me, but is it really necessary to speak to me as if I don't know how to do my job? Although my coronation was merely days ago, I've been studying diplomacy for years. I will appreciate the advice of the Council, but I will not need them to assume leadership of Arendelle."

"Understood, your Majesty." Henrik exited the room, clearly irritated.

"Queen Elsa, is everything alright?" Kai asked as he hurried into the room, "I saw some frost on your door and I heard shouting, I wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Tell the citizens that I'm not feeling well, and that I will address their concerns tomorrow. Also make sure that Henrik stays out of the way."

"Very well, your Majesty."

The door clicked shut, and once again, Elsa was left alone with her ice and her thoughts. All her life she had been told to conceal her emotions in order to control her powers. But what if, she wondered, there was more to 'conceal, don't feel' than just keeping her powers under control?

Elsa saw her reflection in the window, her face streaked with tears, her hair disheveled. She looked like anything but a queen. As the room began to thaw, she wondered why she let her emotions get out of control in front of the second most powerful person in Arendelle. She knew that regardless of whether she was speaking with one important person or to hundreds of subjects, she had to maintain her composure and disguise her true emotions, something which she had failed to do in front of Henrik.

'Conceal, don't feel' suddenly took an entirely different meaning.

* * *

"Elsa?" Anna called as she knocked on her sister's door. "Are you in here?"

"Yes, come in."

By now, Elsa had managed to collect herself a bit, but Anna could still tell that something was wrong with her sister.

"Are you okay? I overheard Kai say you weren't feeling well."

"I'm fine," Elsa lied, "Just the past few days are catching up to me; I'm exhausted."

"I feel ya, sis." The princess stretched as she yawned. "All this celebrating wore me out."

It dawned on the queen that she didn't have to hide her emotions anymore. This wasn't a stuck up dignitary or a judging member of the public, this was her sister. Her kind, caring sister. "Anna," she said, taking a leap of faith, "Am I a good queen?"

"Of course you are," Anna replied. "You're the best queen I know."

"Anna, I'm the only queen you know."

"That is not true! I've met Queen Arianna of Corona."

"You met her once. When we were kids."

"That's beside the point. Anyways, why are you asking that?"

"I'm ignoring the problems that my powers caused. The people of Arendelle are suffering because of me, and I'm too scared to figure out a way to help them. Henrik was blaming me and trying to convince me that I needed the Royal Council to take over my duties. He doesn't get that I'm still new to this, and that it's incredibly overwhelming."

"You're definitely rushing into this, Elsa. It's only been a few days since the Great Thaw, no one but Henrik is going to expect you to fix the entire kingdom in a day."

"You're right." Elsa said, "Now if only I could've told that to Henrik," she added to herself.

"These times are hard for all of us, but I just want you to know that I'll be right here with you for all of it. You don't have to be alone anymore."

"Thanks, Anna." The two sisters hugged, a special kind of hug they had both waited thirteen years for.

"Now," Anna started, "D'you wanna build a snowman? Or should we sneak into the kitchen and steal some chocolate?"

A playful smirk crept across the queen's face, "Why not both?"

* * *

 **Haha I don't fuckinf know how to write. :) But leave a review I guess, that's cool.**


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